Lock & Key

For seventeen-year-old Ruby Cooper, self-reliance is the only key to survival. For months, she has been getting by on her own, abandoned by her mother in their yellow house. But when her solitary existence is discovered, she is sent to live with a sister she hasn't seen in ten years and her wealthy husband. Thrust into a world of privilege and stability that feels utterly foreign, Ruby must navigate a new school, new rules, and a family she barely knows, all while defiantly holding onto the key to a home that no longer exists.

This new life presents an impossible choice: keep the defensive walls she has built so carefully intact or risk trusting the people who want to let her in. As she gets closer to the friendly boy next door and uncovers the complicated truths of her own family's past, Ruby is forced to question what home really means. It is a story about the secrets that keep us locked away, the connections that can set us free, and the difficult journey of learning that you don't have to carry the weight of the past by yourself.